The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-06-22

the Tabernacle the Rev. T. De Witt Tai
mage read, previous 10 the sermon, por-
tiOns Of Scripture descriptive of ancient
cities and gave out the hymn;
Fields are white. the harvest waiting;
Who viii bear the sheaves awayi'
His text was, ''And the men of the city
said unto Elisha Behold, pray thee, the
situation Of this city is pleasant, as my
Lord seeth; bat the water is naught and
the ground barren. And he said, Bring
me a new cruise, and put salt therein. And
they brought 1t to him. And he went
forth unto the spring Of the waters, and
cast the salt in there, and said, Thus said
the Lord, I have healed these waters;
there shall not be from thence any more
death or barren land. So the waters were
healed unto this day" III Kings ii, 1922.
DIR. Talmage said: It is difficult to
estimate how much Of the prosperity
and health Of a city are dependent
upon good water. The time when
through well laid pipes and from safe
reservoir an abundance Of water from
CrotOn or RidgewOOd or Schuylkll is
brought into the city is appropriately cell
ebTated with Grafton md pyrOtechnic dis
play. Thank God every day for clear,
bright, beautiful sparkling water as 1t
drops in the shower or losses up in the
fountain or rushes out at the hydrant
i ne Guy OF JtflCUO, Notwithstanding al
its physical and commercial advantages,
was lacking in this important element.
There was enough water, but it was dis
eased, and the people were crying out by
reason thereof. Elisha, the prophet comes
10 the rescue. He says: Get me new
cruse fill il with salt and bring it 10 me "
So the cruise of salt was brought to the
prophet, and / see him walking out to the
general reservoir, and he takes that salt
and throws it into the reservoir, and 10!
all the impurities depart, through a super
natural and divine influence, and the
waters are good and fresh and clear, and
all the people clap their hands and lift up
their faces in the gladness. Water for
Jericho - clear, bright, beautiful, God
given water
At different times / have pointed ont to
you the fountains Of municipal corruption,
and this morning / propose 20 show you
what are the means for the rectihcation Of
those fountains There are four or five
kinds Of salt that have cleansing ten
dency. So far "a God may help me, l
shall bring a cruise Of salt to the work,
and empty it into the great reservoir of
municipal crime, sin and shame, ignorance
and abOminatiOn.
In this work of cleansing our cities,
have first TO remark that there is work
for the broom and the shovel that nothing
else can do. There always has been an
intimate connection between iniquity and
dirt The filthy parts of the great cities
are always the most Ubiquitous parts. The
cutters and the pavements Of the Fourth
ward, New York, illustrate and symbolic
the character Of the people in the Fourth
ward
The first thing that bad man does
when he is converted is thoroughly TO
tvoQb bfrpqalf Thara vunrn tbfe morning
on the way to the different churches,
thousands Of men in proper apparel who,
before their conversion, were unfit in their
Sabbath dress. When on the Sabbath I
see a man uncleanly in his dress, my sus-
picions in regard to his moral character
are aroused, and they are always well
founded. So as to allow no excuse for
lack of ablution, God has cleft the conti-
nents with rivers and lakes, and has sunk
five great oceans, and all the world ought
10 be clean Away, then, with the dirt
from our cities, not only because the
physical health needs an ablution, but be-
cause all the great moral and religious
interests of the cities demand it as a posi-
tive necessity. A filthy city always has
been and always will be a wicked city.
Through the upturning of the earth for
great improvement our city could not be
expected to be as clean as usual, but
for the illimitable dirt of Brooklyn for
the last six months there is no excuse. 1t
is not merely matter of dust in the eyes,
and mud for the shoes, and of stencil for
the nostrils, but of morals for the soul
Another corrective influence that we
would bring TO bear upon the evils of our
great cities is Christian printing press.
The newspapers of any place are the test
Of its morality or immortality The news
boy who runs along the streets with a roll
of papers under his arm is tremendous
force that cannot be turned aside nor re-
sisted, and at his every step the city is
elevated or degraded. This hungry, all
devouring American mind must have
something to read, and upon editors and
authors and book publishers and parents
and teachers rest the responsibility of
what they shall read. Almost every man
you meet has a book in his hand or a
newspaper in his pocket. What book is it
you have in your hand? What newspaper
is it you have in your pocket Ministers
may preach, reformers may plan, philan-
thropsts may toll for the elevation OF the
suffering and the criminal, but until all
the newspapers of the land and all the
booksellers of the land set themselves
against an iniquitous literature-until
then we shall be fighting against fearful
odds. Every time the cylinders of our
great publishing houses turn they make
the earth quake. From them goes forth q
thought like an angel of light to feed and
bless the world, or like an angel of dark
ness to smite it with corruption and sin
and shame and death May God by his
omnipotent spirit purify and elevate the
American printing pressl
l go on further and say we must depend
upon the school for great deal of correct
ing influence. A community can no more
NIL fs.h a.x-. ffrYt,r fV, sl~N
than il can afford to have uncaged hyenas
Ignorance is the mother of hydra headed
crime. Thirty-one per cent of all the
criminals of New York state can neither
read nor write. Intellectual darkness is
generally the precursor OF moral dark
ness | know there are educated out
laws-men who, through their sharpness
of intellect, are made more dangerous.
They use their fine penmanship in signing
other peoples names, and their science in
ingenious burglaries, and their fine man
ners in adroit lbertinism. They go their
round of sin with well cut apparel, and
dangling jewelry, and watches of eighteen
karats, and kid gloves. They are refined
educated magnificent villains. But that
is the exception. 1t is generally the cave
that the criminal classes are as ignorant
as they are wicked. For the proof of
what | say, go into the prisons and the
penitentiaries, and look upon the men
and women incarcerated. The dishonesty
in the eye, the low passion in the lip are
not more conspicuous than the ignorance
in the forehead The ignorant classes are
always the dangerous classes Dema-
gogues marshal them. They are helm
less, and are driven before the gale.
lt Is high time that all city and state
authority, as well rs the Federal govern
ment, appreciate the awful statistics that,
while years ago in this country there was
set apart 5000, 600 acres of land for
school purposes, there are now in New Eng
land l91, 900 people WAC can neither read
nor write, and in the state of PENNSYLVANIA
~, 600 who can neither read nor write.
and in the state of New York PAL 900 who
can neither read nor write, while in the
United States there are nearly 5000, 900
who can neither read nor write. Statistics
enough to stagger and confound any man
who loves his God and his country Now,
In view Of this fact, am in favor of COM
pulsory education When parents are SO
bestial as to neglect this duty to the child
say the law, with a strong hand, at the
came time with a gentle hand ought to
lead these little ones into the light of
intelligence and good morals 1t was a
beautiful tableau when in our city a
swarthy policeman having picked up q
to9' SHiAu III TIC sdeet, WAS lounu appeaS-
ing its cries with stick of candy he had
bought at the apple stand. That was
well done. and beautifully done But,
OH these thousands of little ones through
our streets who are crying for the bread
of knowledge and intelligence. Shall we
not give it TO them? The officers of the
law ought to 60 down into the cellars, and
up into the garrets, and bring out these
benighted little ones and put them under
educational influences; after they have
passed through the bath and under the